Best Stretches for Tight Hip Flexors
Friday, May 31, 2019
Does your hip feel tight or sore? Do you tilt your pelvis to compensate, so you have lower back pain? It could be tight hip flexors at the front or the back. This is becoming more and more common because, how many of us sit at work all day? Binge watch our favourite shows on the couch? Walk around in high heels? Even take up the increasingly popular long-distance running or cycling? Find out how to stretch those tight hip muscles.
Good hip flexion is important for hip extension in most kinds of common exercise like walking, running, cycling, resistance training, and yoga. For good hip flexion you need stretching and strengthening at the front of your hip flexor AND at the glute muscles.
Stretching
Start by warming and loosening up the muscles with a foam roller.
Great stretches for reaching the various parts of the hip flexor include butterfly stretch, frog stretch, pigeon pose, and my favourite, the half kneeling couch lunge. Watch this short video for exactly how to do it:
For more information relevant to cyclists and runners, Tom explains the knitty gritty here:
Remember, hold for 45 secs each side! Even better, each day!
Stretching should be done after exercise, or after properly warming up.
Strengthening
Unilateral exercises such as step-ups and single-leg toe touches are particularly effective at strengthening the glutes, while walking lunges, lateral lunges, air squats and jump squats will zero in on all the muscles surrounding the hips.
Remember the best thing is to avoid tightness in the first place! Take regular breaks from sitting by going for a walk around the office or block, and make sure you warm up the hip before exercise and stretch the hip afterwards.
If you're at the pain point, especially when running or cycling, please get in touch with one of our physiotherapists so that we can put you back on the right track.